I’m a fan of the Atlanta Falcons. I’ve been a fan of the Falcons since 2002; the same season where the Falcons went to the playoffs with first-year starter Michael Vick. One of the Falcons’ big problems over the next two years was the need of a play-making wide receiver to help out Vick. The Falcons obtained Peerless Price in order to help out the Falcons’ offense. After years of under production from the WR corps, the Falcons drafted Sharod “Roddy” White with their first-round pick in 2005. Roddy White, from Alabama-Birmingham University (UAB), was brought in for his capability to make explosive plays, along with adding another dimension to a one-dimensional offense of the Falcons.

In Roddy’s first season, Roddy made his first catch against the Vikings in 2005, where he had two catches for twelve yards in a 30-1o victory. A couple of weeks later, White caught his first touchdown against the Green Bay Packers. Roddy ended that game with two catches for twenty-two yards. The next game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Roddy White had his first 100-yard receiving performance where he caught four passes for 108 yards. For the season overall, White ended with 29 catches for 446 yards and three touchdowns.

After his first season, many Atlanta Falcons fans felt that the best was yet to come for the young Roddy White. The next season, in 2006, Roddy White surely had his ups and downs. Even with his ability to quickly get downfield and get open, White’s kryptonite came with the amount of dropped passes. Roddy’s inability to catch passes on a regular basis set the Falcons’ offense back some and placed more pressure for the running game and Michael Vick to make plays. The lowest point of the season came in a home game against the New Orleans Saints in week twelve. In this game, there were many drops from Falcons receivers, but Roddy had one of the most talked-about drops where he dropped a touchdown pass in the endzone. It was surely a low point in Roddy White’s young career. People were already starting to call the young receiver a bust. Roddy White ended the thirty catches for 506 yards, but zero touchdowns.

Before the beginning of the 2007 season, there were many things that occurred that turned the Atlanta Falcons organization around. The indictment of Michael Vick, which I won’t go into detail about (since it’s been beaten down to the core), the firing of Jim Mora Jr. and the hiring of Bobby Petrino. There were two events though that occurred that were least talked about: the signing of veteran receiver Joe Horn and the signing of Hue Jackson as offensive coordinator. Hue Jackson previously served as the Wide Receivers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals, where he helped receivers Chad Ochocinco, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Chris Henry become household names around the league. These two signings proved to be the turning point in Roddy White’s career.

In a season where the Atlanta Falcons struggled to a 4-12 record, Roddy White was one of the shining spots on the Falcons team. Roddy White had five games of 100+ receiving yards. White also became the Atlanta Falcons first wide receiver to reach 1,000 yards receiving for a season since Terance Mathis did it in 1999. I was personally amazed on the progress Roddy White made within a season that had so many down points for the Falcons. Roddy White ended the season with 83 catches for 1,202 yards and six touchdowns. Keep in mind, Roddy White had Chris Redman, Joey Harrington, and Byron Leftwich as the quarterbacks throwing to him. At this point, all Roddy White needed was a franchise quarterback to consistently deliver him the ball and become a major threat.

Fast-forward to April 26, 2008. The Atlanta Falcons drafted quarterback Matt Ryan from Boston College with their first-round pick. Many Falcons fans thought that with Matt Ryan now the face of the Falcons franchise, Roddy White could blossom and improve off his breakout campaign from the 2007 season. Another piece to the puzzle that was added was the signing of Terry Robiskie, who was determined to make Roddy White a bigger threat at the WR position. During the 2008 season, Matt Ryan proved to be the answer for the quarterback position in Atlanta. The Matt Ryan-Roddy White connection proved to be legit in every aspect. Roddy White ended the year with seven games with 100+ yards receiving. Roddy also had his first multi-touchdown game against the Philadelphia Eagles in week 8. Roddy White was apart of a campaign that led the new-look Falcons to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. Roddy White’s final number for the season: 88 catches, 1,382 yards and seven touchdowns. More importantly though, a first-ever Pro Bowl spot for the improving Roddy White.

My Roddy White Jersey

During the off-season of 2009, Roddy White held-out in order to receive a better fitted contract based off of his two previous high-productive seasons. Knowing how important White was to the Falcons offense and organization overall, he was re-signed to a six-year, $48 million dollar contract. Fast-forward to the 2009 season, where future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez was signed to add another dimension to the Falcons offense, White improved even more. In week five, Roddy White had his best game of his career where he caught 8 passes for a career-high 210 yards and two touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers. I remember being at a friend’s house and seeing the game and saying to myself, “Roddy White can no longer be ignored”. However, I still felt that even after two productive seasons and a breakout game, Roddy White still did not receive the credit for being one of the top receivers in the NFL. By the end of the 2009 season, White became more of a bigger presence throughout the NFL where he caught 85 passes for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns.

We are currently approaching week 8 of the 2010 campaign, where Roddy White leads the league with 54 catches for 747 yards and five touchdowns through seven games. The most impressive statistic, however, is something that cannot be seen with the numbers that were just talked about. Throughout seven games, Roddy White does not have a dropped pass (knocks on wood). White is the only player with 35+ receptions without a dropped pass so far throughout this season. In his last game against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 24th, Roddy White had 11 catches for 201 yards and two touchdowns. It was this game where people around the league started talking about Roddy White being one of the premier wide receivers in the NFL. It was this game where analysts and spectators started believing that Roddy White is now a wide receiver that teams have to game plan against.

When people ask me who is my favorite player from the Atlanta Falcons, I easily say Roddy White. I have had the pleasure of watching Roddy White go from the being talked about as being a potential wasted talent, to arguably one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. I have had the pleasure of watching Roddy White go from being an unfocused, unpolished athlete to a sharp, dangerous game-breaker. Roddy still has a long way to go until his career is over, but lets hope that Sharod “Roddy” White can keep up this high level of play for many seasons to come. I will sure to here to witness every moment.

A couple of days ago in my blog post, Running: My New Passion, I wrote about the fact that I had a 10K race coming up on October 24th. Well, the day and come and gone so its time for me to tell you how my first 10K race went.

Throughout the morning, I had plenty of excitement and jitters. The race did not start until 9 AM, but I was at the race course around 7:15 AM. Before the race began, I took some time to get acclimated with the surroundings of the race course; the overall environment we shall say. I went ahead and jogged for a little around the neighborhood just to see how my body would react to the smooth pavement. There was another reason why I went ahead and tried to run a little bit: to test out my right ankle. It was two Saturdays ago that I had a little pain in my right ankle during a 8-mile practice run. After the run, I decided to not run many more practice runs to prevent further aggravation of the ankle. To my delight and surprise, my ankle felt pretty good.

The weather was around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, minimal air was blowing, and the sun was starting to come out. It was now 9:00 AM. It was now time to start the race. As the gun went off, I started pedaling downhill and off towards the race track. For this race, there was a 5K going on at the same time. People who were running the 10K had to run the same course twice (3.1 miles twice). I completed the first 3.1 miles at around 25:15.

As I was beginning the second half of the race, something in me told me to keep on going. Something told me to just manage these last couples of miles and I’ll be fine. There were times that I wanted to stop, but there was no way that I was going to let that happen. I worked too hard up to this point to just stop now. The race course served Gatorade and water at the 2 and 5 mile markers. I made sure to drink Gatorade on both occasions to regain some of the Potassium and Salt that was lost while sweating. As I reached the 6 mile marker, I had .2 more miles to go. I completely put it in 5th gear in order to finish on a strong note. I finished the 10K race at 50:45. I came in second place in my age group (20-29) in the 10K competition. I was shocked to find this out after the official race results were posted.

After the race was completed, I felt really good about finishing my first 10K without stopping. I do want to improve on my time the next time I run a 10K because I felt that I would have a better time before the race. No worries though, that’s why I love to run. I know that I will get better. Mission accomplished.

To those who are strictly familiar with Terrell Owens, better known as T.O., and his ability to be a team’s worst nightmare, might think to yourselves “What the heck are you talking about? Terrell Owens is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.” Others who have seen what Owens has done on the gridiron and what he has contributed to the NFL will rightfully say that Owens deserves to be inducted in Canton five years after his career is over. I am one of those people who believe that Owens and his contributions will get him into the Hall of Fame, first ballot. Keep this in mind, I am not a Terrell Owens fanatic, but I cannot deny that Terrell Owens is one the best WRs to ever play the game.

I think a very good majority of people who watch, study, and follow the NFL will agree with me that Terrell Owens will be in the Hall of Fame. The debate is more on how long should it take him to get inducted. This is based on his overall career statistics and his ability to make the team around him better. Here are some of the argument points that I have heard PERSONALLY used to argue against Terrell Owens being a first-ballot Hall of Famer:

Terrell Owens is NOT a team player/He’s a team distraction – I will admit, T.O. has been one of the most egotistical football players that has ever embraced the NFL. T.O. has played for five teams (49ers, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills, and currently the Bengals). Out of those five teams, T.O. has definitely been caught-up in team controversy with his first three teams. On the other hand, with the Bills, and even currently with the Bengals, Owens has not been much of a distraction and a nuisance has people have wanted or expected him to be. Another thing to add to deter this argument is this: How many times has Terrell Owens been arrested by police? Been busted for steroids, drugs, or any other illegal substance? The answer is 0, which means T.O. is not as a distraction to the league that people make him out to be.

Terrell Owens was NOT the best WR during his time in the NFL – From Terrell Owens rookie season of 1996 to present, we have had receivers such as Randy Moss, Torry Holt, Issac Bruce, Marvin Harrison, and Hines Ward make the most impact within that time span. From those five-listed receivers, and the addition of Owens, its argued that T.O. is somewhere within the middle of the pack; behind Randy Moss, Issac Bruce, and Marvin Harrison (which is a stretch at this point).

Terrell Owens has not won a Super Bowl – This is one of the most used arguing points in determining Hall of Fame placement for a player. How many Super Bowls has Owens been to? He’s only been to one, which was in the 2004 season with the Philadelphia Eagles. As we all know, the Eagles lost to the Patriots in the big dance. A team that has Terrell Owens has not been back to the Super Bowl since, and many critics claim that he is part of the reason why. Well, let’s think for a minute. Randy Moss, who is definitely going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring either and he is claimed by many as one of the best WRs in NFL history.

There are other Wide Receivers who should be inducted first before T.O. – Issac Bruce, Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter, Henry Ellard, and Torry Holt. All of these receivers are currently within the top-10 of all-time receiving yards in the NFL and NONE are in the Hall of Fame. These receivers will definitely be within the Hall of Fame in the next couple of years. If T.O. (we’ll say theoretically) was to retire at the end of this season, what will he be up against in five years? Only time would tell.

In looking at all of these arguing points that are used against Terrell Owens, there is no set of stats that can be argued by anyone: his overall wide receiver statistics from 1996-present. The following statistics were obtained from NFL.com and Pro-Football-Reference.com:

15,427 receiving yards (currently second all-time to Jerry Rice, who has 22,895)

Seven years with at least 10+ receiving touchdowns (three times with SF and DAL, once with PHI). Only Marvin Harrison (8), Randy Moss and Jerry Rice (9) have more seasons with at least 10+ receiving touchdowns

50 career games with 100+ yards receiving (currently 4th most all-time)

Top-10 in receiving yards for five seasons (2000-02 and 2006-07)

As a wide receiver in the NFL, the above stats are the ones you should be concerned about when debating on whether or not a player is first-ballot material. I think those numbers speak for itself. In the years that T.O. was with the 49ers, Jeff Garcia undoubtedly had the best season of his career statistically. When T.O. went to the Eagles, Donovan McNabb had his best year in this career statistically. When T.O. went to the Cowboys, Tony Romo had the best season of his career statistically. If you don’t believe me, look it up yourselves. The last time I checked, character issues was not a part of the voting requirements when it came to determining who made the Hall of Fame. It was about the contribution that the individual gave to the game of football and how much of an impact he made out of the field. I think Terrell Owens has definitely made his presence known, whether people want to admit it or not.

Terrell Owens, in my eyes, is a first-ballot Hall of Fame candidate. Will the NFL Hall of Fame voting committee think so when the time comes? We’ll see.

The above image is a pair of Asics GT-2150 running shoes that I use for a new found passion of mines: running. It’s kind of weird how I stumbled on the thought of running on a regular basis. When I was young, I always loved to run. I was always the one who loved to play childhood games such as “Catch One Catch All”, “Tag”, “Freeze”, and all of the similar activities. Why? Because I knew I had the speed to catch anyone; it was exciting at the time. Even with my love for running, I never played any athletics during school. Fast-forward five years later after school, and here I am running for fun and competitive purposes.

My itch for competitive running started back in March of this year. A co-worker of mines told me about a 5K event (3.1 miles) that was going to occur in May. I was pretty excited to run the race, so I decided to accept the invitation. When I first started my training, a didn’t know a THING about how to train, where to train, how to properly condition my body, nothing. I remember my first couple of practice sessions at a local race track: I was running in Nike Air Forces (never a good idea for ANY type of run, in my opinion). I could not even run 2 miles without having to stop and grab something to drink.

I knew I was better than this, so I decided to get some advice from past runners/books. The first thing that I had to do was definitely get some running shoes. Even before I bought my first running shoes, I had to determine my foot structure. The “Wet Test” (where you wet your feet and place them on a heavy piece of paper, preferably cardboard) helped me determine my foot structure. I bought my first ever pair of running shoes, Asics Gel 1120. From there, I purchased better clothes for running (Under Armour, nothing else matters!). From this point on, I took not only my upcoming 5K event, but my running training very serious.

I started running once a week. After I was comfortable, I started running 3 times per week; getting better with each run. I started to run at different places other than the track. I first started running with headphones and iPod in order to allude the thought of heavy breathing and aches. After a while, I left those same set of headphones and iPod in my closet in order to become a more focused runner. I wanted to correct my breathing patterns, my running technique, and my body movements. All of this is critical when running.

I ran my first ever 5K on May 1st. My official time was 23:50 (average of 7:40 per mile), which used time-chip scoring. I felt great not only finishing the event without stopping, I felt great with the results at hand. The results can be attributed to increased and consistent practice, good sleep the night before, and a good balance breakfast beforehand.

After the event, I wanted to learn more on how to become a better runner. I was in a used bookstore and I happened to find a book called The New York Road Runners Club Complete Book of Running by Fred Lebow, Gloria Averbuch, and friends. Even though this book was outdated by 15 years, this book helped me to build a foundation of what it takes to become a better runner overtime. As I was reading this book, it talked about Marathon running. Before this point, I had really no intentions on running a marathon (26.2 miles). I thought there was NO way that I could ever run that long and still stay sane. After I read this chapter, my thoughts changed drastically. My goal is to now run in a marathon by March of next year. It’s going to take an ample amount of training, preparation, studying, and patience. I believe that I can get it done. I bought a more up-to-date book for my marathon goal, The Marathon Method: The 16-Week Training Program that Prepares You to Finish a Full or Half Marathon in Your Best Time by Tom Holland. To quote Kevin Garnett, “anything is possibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”. Well, maybe without the same emotional outburst as Kevin, but close.

Since my first 5K, I’ve bought improved running shoes (hence the photo at the top), gotten my body into better shape, became more conscious of possible dangers of improper training, and overall became more excited with each run.

I went from not being able to run 2 miles without stopping, to currently running a personal record of 8 miles. With each experience, I get more confident in my ability to run efficiently. The thought of running actually has me going to bed early on the weekends (I know, blasphemy!) in order to run the paved paths and dirt trails. I ran another 5K in September, and I plan on running my first-ever 10K this weekend. As a matter of fact, I just came back from running two miles as practice for the event! I’ll tell you how it goes in a future blog post.